North America

There are several long-standing exchange programmes between Imperial and American universities, including the University of California, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon University.

The College also collaborates on a number of short-term summer programmes with partners including MIT and the University of British Columbia (UBC). These allow undergraduates from both institutions to undertake a period of supervised research overseas at the partner institution.

Other collaborations include the Global Fellows Programme, supporting high impact international placements for PhD students in labs at partner institutions include Cornell and the University of Toronto, and the MIT-Imperial Seed Fund to kick start early stage and 'blue skies' research.

Find out more about our work with North America at Imperial Global, including Imperial Global USA, a dedicated US hub that will enhance our research partnerships with US academic and industrial partners and support our growing US alumni network and student recruitment opportunities.

"Studying at Imperial is intense and rewarding. Everyone at the College is extremely bright and motivated – the atmosphere is contagious and you end up working hard as a result. And with all the fantastic institutions nearby, there’s always someone new to chat with about your research and get new ideas. I also love the energy and diversity of London. There are so many different people who all seem to be ambitious and doing something interesting."

Tyler Sorensen (USA), PhD Computing

Applying from school

An undergraduate degree at Imperial normally lasts three years for a Bachelor’s level qualification or four years for an integrated Master’s.

Some departments offer a year abroad or a year in industry which can add to the overall length of your degree.

A key difference between university study in England and North America is that we do not teach any general courses, meaning that you need to choose a particular subject area before you apply. This allows you to achieve a greater depth of knowledge in your chosen specialism from the very first year, studying more advanced specialist modules that are tied to our research, as the course progresses.

Applying via UCAS

To apply for a full-time undergraduate programme at Imperial, you must make an online application via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service – UCAS. The UCAS code for Imperial College London is I50.

UCAS allows you to apply to a maximum of five courses in one cycle. Find step-by-step instructions on how to apply; you can also visit the UCAS website for more in-depth advice.

If we want to offer you a place, but you have not yet taken your exams, then we would usually make you a 'conditional offer'. This means we will guarantee you a place at Imperial subject to you satisfying the conditions of your offer, such as achieving certain scores in your final qualifications.

You can submit your results after you have applied; this is usual practice in the UK.

Academic entry requirements

Exact entry requirements vary by course - see the entry requirements section on our our course pages  for details of the range of international qualifications we accept. 

If your school qualification is not on the list of accepted qualifications, you may be considered by taking an accepted Foundation programme, or an accepted qualification at an external provider - see our course pages for details. 

Students from Canadian curriculum high schools

We accept Canadian provincial high school diplomas with scores of 85%–90% overall across all grade 12 subjects, including 85%–90% in at least five grade 12 subjects including required subjects (exact requirements will depend upon on your degree of interest).

APs are not required for students from Canadian schools, but may be considered as part of the application if submitted.

Students from US curriculum high schools

We do not accept ACT or SAT scores for entry at undergraduate level.

Instead we're seeking a minimum of 3–4 AP tests with scores of 5 (see our course pages for required subjects). These are expected alongside your high school diploma.

English language requirements

You can also find our English language requirements here, which you need to satisfy even if English is your native language – check the relevant course page to see whether your course of interest requires the standard or higher standard for entry.

Selection process

You can find out what else we are looking for in an application on our how to apply pages. 

A Master's degree at Imperial normally lasts one year, though we do offer some degrees which you can take part-time over two years and PG Certificate and PG Diploma qualifications which vary in length.

A PhD with us will usually take 3–4 years of full-time study to complete. 

How to apply

To apply for a Master's or Doctoral course, you need to submit an application via our online application system.

Find out more about how to apply for postgraduate taught or postgraduate doctoral study.

Academic entry requirements

Exact entry requirements vary per course, but to be considered for admission to a Master's e.g. MSc, MRes, MBA etc, you should hold a Bachelor's degree. 

To check if your international qualification meets the College minimum requirement, please see our accepted qualifications.

Departments may also often  set higher level requirements, due to the demanding and competitive nature of our courses. 

For the vast majority of our degrees, we do not require additional testing such as the GRE or GMAT. If we do require any additional testing it will be clearly stated on the course page.

If you're applying for a Doctoral degree, you should usually hold a Master's degree – the grades you require will be specified by the Department you're applying to. In addition, you'll need to hold a Bachelor's degree passed at the prescribed level.

If we want to make you an offer, but you have not yet graduated, then we would usually make you a conditional offer subject to you achieving a certain grade or score. This means your place at Imperial is guaranteed providing you meet the conditions of your offer.

You can submit your overall average after you have made your application, which is normal practice in the UK.

English language requirements

Successful applicants will need to achieve a certain level of English to qualify for a place on their chosen course, even if English is your native language.

Each course specifies either a Standard or Higher language requirement, which is the level of English required for entry on to that particular course.

Full details can be found on the relevant course page and English language requirement page.

Re-applying

If you have previously applied to Imperial and were unsuccessful, you will need to submit a new application.

If you have successfully requested deferred entry, you do not need to complete a new application.

A number of Imperial students from the US gain a prestigious Fulbright or Marshall scholarship. Read more about one such scholar, Nick Schwartz, who studied MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering.

You can search all of our scholarships in one place.

Examples of funding for students from North America include:

Undergraduate students

• Canadian student loans and tax forms
• US Federal Loans scheme

Master's students

• Fulbright – Imperial College London Award (US citizens)

Master's and Research students

• Canadian student loans and tax forms
• Imperial Marshall Scholarships (US citizens)
• US Federal Loans scheme

Research students

• President's PhD Scholarships

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If life at Imperial was all labs and lectures, we wouldn’t have around 350 clubs and societies to get involved with.

We have clubs and societies covering arts and entertainment, charitable endeavours, culture, departmental and academic-related societies, societies related to faith, media societies (two student newspapers, student radio and TV stations and a photography society) and over 100 sports clubs, including martial arts and indoor and outdoor sports.

All of our societies are open to all students but here are some you may find of particular interest:

• A cappella society
• American football
• Baseball and softball
• Basketball
• Canadian society
• Cheerleading
• Dodgeball
• Ice hockey
• USA Society

Virtual tour

To get a feel for life on our South Kensington Campus, take a virtual tour.

Your relationship with Imperial does not end when you graduate.

There are various options to remain in the UK and seek work after you have completed your studies. We can provide specific advice, guidance and assistance with the Graduate visa, which enables graduates to work in the UK for two years after completing an undergraduate or Master's degree, or three years after completing a PhD. We can also provide limited advice and guidance on the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Tier 5 (Government Authorised Exchange) and Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) work visas.

Other graduates move abroad again, and as an Imperial alumnus you will join a community of over 250,000 alumni in over 200 countries.

We have alumni groups worldwide and you can join our online platform Imperial Plexus to help you build links with other former students. In North America these include:

• Alumni Association of British Columbia, Canada
• Alumni Association of Ontario, Canada
• Alumni Network in Boston, USA
• Alumni Network in Houston, USA
• Imperial College Chapter in New York, USA (ICinNY)
• Alumni Association of Northern California, USA
• Alumni Network in Seattle,
• USA Alumni Network in Washington DC, USA